Catriona Gray can’t believe menstruation used on faces vs acne; reacts to menstrual leave

MANILA, Philippines — Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray almost fell off her seat upon knowing many girls believed the myth that putting menstruation on their faces could stop breakouts.

“Hala! That’s a thing?” her eyes popped in disbelief as Philstar.com told her about the gruesome fact.

“Okay, I’ve never done that,” she clarified.

She, too, used to suffer from acne flare-ups, recalling to Philstar.com that the craziest she ever did to try halting it was to put on a mask of weird potions.

“I think the craziest thing I ever did was like a DIY (do-it-yourself) face mask with avocado and like banana, oats and stuff. Didn’t work but masarap mag-DIY,” she giggled.

From Japan to Zambia, there is a push for paid menstrual leave especially for women who have painful periods. Only a handful of countries, however, largely in Asia and most recently Spain, have moved to give them time off work to recover. The proposal comes amid a campaign by feminists worldwide to demolish taboos around periods. But it has drawn criticism from Spanish unions, who warn that, far from liberating women, menstrual leave could prompt employers to prioritize men when hiring.

RELATED: 'Menstruation makes us stronger': Harnaaz Sandhu strengthens women's health campaign in the Philippines

According to Catriona, the push to have menstrual leave is “a very inclusive movement.”

“I think it’s the choice of the woman so she could take it. She doesn’t necessarily have to, or necessarily made available to her, but it should be something she could take if she feels it,” she said.

Instead of paid menstrual leave, she instead would like to take part in Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu and Miss Universe 2021 finalist Beatrice Luigi Gomez’s advocacy for menstrual equity.

“But within the menstrual advocacy, I would rather go for legislation to lower the price and cost of menstrual products. Because not all of them are affordable to everyone. And if you think about it, your period is not a choice. It’s not something you choose to have, It’s not like a beauty product, a powder or a skincare. It’s a natural thing in a woman’s body, so menstrual care, napkins, products, all that should be accessible to everyone. So that would be the advocacy that I would share with regards to menstrual equity,” Miss Universe 2018 avered.

Although it seemed that Catriona was born to be a queen with 13 million followers and counting, she remembered being too shy and unpopular in school because of her breakouts aggravated by her monthly period.

“When I was a teenager, I think when I was eight years old, when I first started becoming super conscious of my skin kasi nag-super breakout talaga s’ya. And that was the first time I started to really lose confidence in my appearance, not to say that I had it before. But I think when you enter into puberty and you’re entering into school, and you want to be liked by your peers and you want to have that confidence in yourself, I didn’t have that because of my skin, actually.”

So, from home remedies to harsh chemicals, the singer swore to have tried everything just to get rid of the zit. She was happy, she said, when she was finally offered to become a brand ambassador for Cetaphil Bright Healthy Radiance as this skincare line with patented GentleBright technology has been clinically proven to address dark marks caused by acne, melisma and post-inflammatory pigmentation. 

She has combination skin, which becomes oilier every time she has her period. To prevent irritation, she uses a multi-use cleanser, toner and moisturizer with sun protection from the Bright Healthy Radiance line.

At the end of the day, she makes sure to take everything off and for this, the toner is her favorite because it amazes her how it still finds something to remove after using the cleanser. 

Besides listening to her favorite music or calling up her best friend, what puts Catriona into good mood is skincare.

“For anyone waking up a little bit insecure or feeling like they’re not themselves today or wished they loved themselves better, that’s okay because we all want to be human,” she advised. 
“So do give yourself an extra space and do whatever you want to make yourself feel better.” — Reports from Agence France-Presse

RELATED: How Catriona Gray wins over anxiety, breakouts, scoliosis, sleeplessness